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SATURDAY, AUGUST 18, 2012 PAGE 3A
LOCAL
Former city controller dies Mercedes Leighton served W-B 21 1/2 years
Mercedes Leighton’s grandson, released this statement on behalf of her family. “Nan loved this city as much as she loved her WILKES-BARRE – Mayor Tom Leighton said family,” Vinsko said, “I am proud to now serve Friday the community lost a true public servant this city as my grandmother and grandfather did when his aunt, Mercedes J. Leighton, passed before me. Wilkes-Barre and the City Controller’s away. Office are better places because of her work. She “Mercedes was a dedicated public servant for decades and a pillar of this community,” Leighton was my inspiration, both politically and personsaid. “Her warmth and good humor were unrival- ally. I am a better person because of her and I hope I can inspire my kids the way she did me.” ed, and she inspired generations of people to Kathy Kane, the current city controller, said enter public service including myself. She was admired and respected by all and a true pioneer in Leighton was “always a wonderful, polite and kind” woman. governmental service. She will be greatly missed “She came from an amazing family, and she by many.” Mercedes Leighton, who had served as Wilkes- leaves behind an amazing family,” Kane said. “We Barre City controller for 21 1/2 years, died Friday all will miss her greatly.” Leighton was a graduate of Coughlin High afternoon, her family announced. She was 90. School and Wyoming Seminary Business School. Assistant City Attorney William E. Vinsko Jr., By BILL O’BOYLE boboyle@timesleader.com
TIMES LEADER FILE PHOTO
The Pittston Memorial Library will be closed for renovations. A state grant is helping to pay for the work. PITTSTON
Pittston library closed
T
he Pittston Memorial Library will be closed until at least Wednesday for renovations. The library interior will be repainted and will have new carpeting, computer desks and a staff workroom installed. The improvements are partially funded by a $30,000 grant from the Department of Education’s Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund that the library was awarded in February.
TIMES LEADER FILE PHOTO
Mercedes Leighton stands by a campaign poster.
For several years, she worked as the manager for the Osterhout Library North Branch on George Avenue. See LEIGHTON, Page 12A
2 towns receive police grants
WILKES-BARRE
Flood grants available
As the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee approaches, the Wilkes University Small Business Development Center announced it has received funds to help small companies rebound from storm and flood damage. Funds were released under the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Small Business Development Centers Portable Assistance Program for fiscal Hughes year 2012 and will allow SBDC staff to further assist small business owners rebuild and strengthen their businesses after sustaining flood and wind damage. “After the 2011 storms, the Wilkes University SBDC was on the ground meeting with clients in the hardesthit areas to help them rebuild,” said Wilkes SBDC Director Ruth Hughes. Small business owners in Columbia or Luzerne counties who sustained such damage and need assistance with business continuation and rebuilding strategies should contact the Wilkes SBDC at (570) 408-4340 or sbdc@wilkes.edu. For more information on Wilkes SBDC services and programs, visit www.wilkes.edu/ sbdc. HARRISBURG
Veterans assistance set
State Rep. Karen Boback, R-Harveys Lake, announced her veterans assistance hours for September. Because some veterans are missing out on veterans’ benefits, Boback hosts veteran representatives each month to ensure that veterans across the 117th Legislative District have the opportunity to learn about the programs and Boback benefits for which they may be eligible. She will host a claims consultant from the Wilkes-Barre Veterans of Foreign Wars at her Sweet Valley office, 5929 Main Road (off State Route 118), on Sept. 18, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., to address questions and concerns of local veterans and their families. The Department of Veterans Affairs’ mobile veterans center will visit the Cross County Complex in Tunkhannock on Sept. 17 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and the Dallas Shopping Center on Memorial Highway, Dallas, on Sept. 28, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. WILKES-BARRE
Bark for Life planned
The American Cancer Society will be host Bark for Life of Wyoming Valley, a first-time charity dog walking event, next Saturday at Nesbitt Memorial Park. The event, which runs from 9 a.m. until noon, will feature activities for dogs and their owners, including a ceremony to honor pets that have cancer or have died from cancer. All proceeds from Bark for Life will benefit The American Cancer Society.
Nanticoke and Plymouth will replace aging vehicles in their departments. CLARK VAN ORDEN/THE TIMES LEADER
Renovation and expansion work is still ongoing at State Street Elementary School in Larksville, but Superintendent Chuck Suppon said the new and improved school will be ready for students Sept. 4.
Suppon: School will be ready WVW superintendent says State Street Elementary renovation nearly done.
stoves. Which means unlike the other schools, students eventually will have a broader choice of hot and cold meals prepared on the premises.
By MARK GUYDISH mguydish@timesleader.com
More space and features The $28 million renovation and expansion has made the old school almost invisible, as capacity is ramped up from about 600 to roughly 1,200 students. The school is split into two sections, one for “primary grades” which the district defines and kindergarten through second and another for “intermediate grades” three through five. Each section will have its own music room, art room and computer lab. There’s a new gym with a floor that gleams like polished glass (“this is better than some high school gym floors,” Suppon quipped), while the old gym has been converted to a cafeteria/auditorium … though the wooden floor with the foul line markings remains.
LARKSVILLE– Some walls remain unpainted, some doors remain unhinged and some rooms are unlit. Rolled carpeting sits in corners while classrooms and hallways are crammed with stacked desks and chairs. School supplies are wrapped in plastic atop pallets. And yet Wyoming Valley West Superintendent Chuck Suppon confidently predicts the new and improved State Street Elementary school will be ready for students Sept. 4. “Will it be 100 percent complete? No,” Suppon said during a tour of the building Friday. “But the classrooms will be done and the building will be safe to use.” Considering the bulk of remaining work appears to be cosmetic, and that contractors are pouring 120 to 140 people
CLARK VAN ORDEN/THE TIMES LEADER
Classroom at State Street Elementary School in Larksville
into the building each day, the promise seems reasonable; especially when Suppon concedes the two areas that look least finished – the cafeteria and administration spaces – won’t be done in time. Suppon expects students will be getting cold lunches prepared at the high school through September until the
kitchen is up and running, but that’s nothing new. The two schools that were closed as a result of the State Street expansion – Pringle Street and Main Street – did not have real kitchens. “This will be a full-service kitchen,” Suppon said standing in the room that still lacked the key features: Ovens and See SCHOOL, Page 12A
Ex-county dog handler sues for animal costs John Petrovich was one of 50 county workers cut as an economy measure. By JERRY LYNOTT jlynott@timesleader.com
WILKES-BARRE – A former canine handler laid off from the Luzerne County Correctional Facility in March is suing for overtime pay he contends is owed for caring for the dog while he was not on duty, according to lawsuit filed Friday in federal court. Joseph Petrovich of Butler Township said he is due $71,059 in compensation, $17,764 in damages plus interest, attorney’s fees and other costs. Petrovich, who was among the more than 50 people whose jobs were cut as a cost-saving measure, said the county’s pol-
icy of refusing to pay overtime violated federal and state labor laws and demanded a jury trial, according to the suit filed against the county in U.S. District Court, Scranton. A call placed to county solicitor Vito DeLuca was not returned. The money is owed from a four-year period when Petrovich was employed as a lieutenant at the prison and the month he took care of the German shepherd Rocky after he was let go on March 1, according to the suit filed in U.S. District Court, Scranton. Petrovich said he bought the dog on April 23 after the county refused to take it back. The dog went through rehabilitation and intensive training to recover from a hearing loss in 2008 after his former han-
dler fired a high-powered rifle too close to the animal, according to Times Leader archives. Rocky and other dogs in the unit were trained in drug detection and used to quell disturbances. The suit listed Petrovich’s annual salary and overtime: Feb. 11, 2008 to June 9, 2011 he was paid $53,281 a year or $25.62 an hour and $38.43 overtime rate equal to one and a half times the regular hourly rate; June 9 2011 to Jan. 1 of this year his salary was $55,637, hourly rate $26.75 and overtime $40.12; Jan. 1 through March 1 his salary was $57,307, hourly rate $27.55 and overtime $41.33. Petrovich said he spent at least seven hours a week caring for the dog in addition to his 40-hour work week. He also was not compensated for the animal’s care during his annual leave, according to the suit.
By JERRY LYNOTT jlynott@timesleader.com
NANTICOKE – Two area police departments received nearly $80,000 in grants to purchase patrol vehicles through a federal program for small town and rural communities. Nanticoke and Plymouth each were awarded the funds through the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Each municipality will buy a sport utility vehicle and car for its department and replace aging vehicles. Nanticoke received $38,400 and $38,660 went to Plymouth from the USDA’s Rural Development Community Facilities program. “They are much needed and our department is well deserving” of the funds, said Nanticoke Mayor Joseph Dougherty during a press conference Friday morning outside the city’s fire headquarters on East Ridge Street. One of the vehicles, a 2013 Ford Escape, was parked in front of the fire station. The city expects to receive a new Ford Taurus soon and replace “what we need to” among its four marked vehicles, Police Chief William Shultz said. Plymouth also has ordered its vehicles to upgrade the pool of four marked vehicles. “This was an unexpected pleasure but it’s much needed. Our cruisers are in very poor condition,” Mayor Dorothy Petrosky said. “Our cruisers are getting a little old. This is coming at a great time. We’ve been having problems in Plymouth, which we’re working at correcting, and this money is sorely, sorely needed,” Plymouth Council President Frank Coughlin added. He thanked the federal and state lawmakers who helped with the funding. The USDA provides 55 percent of the cost of the vehicles and the municipalities are responsible for the other 45 percent. Tom Williams, a Nanticoke native and USDA Rural Development state program director, acknowledged people would question why the department is involved with police cars. “The Rural Development agency is the prime financer of rural infrastructure in Pennsylvania and in the country,” Williams See GRANTS, Page 12A